QB Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers / Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones and Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones and Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Chiefs players are preparing to rally around quarterback Alex Smith once his trade from the San Francisco 49ers is finalized after the new league year begins March 12.

"I know I'm going to do everything I can to help him," Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.

The Chiefs, under new coach Andy Reid and new general manager John Dorsey, finalized an agreement to trade San Francisco their second-round draft pick and a conditional draft pick in 2014 in exchange for Smith, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft who was unseated as the 49ers starter in November.

Smith was 19-5-1 since 2011 when he lost his job to second-year player Colin Kaepernick after suffering a concussion Nov. 12. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh made the controversial decision to stick with Kaepernick after Smith was deemed healthy enough to return.

"It's about winning," Winston said. "Alex is a guy who's been there and has what it takes. Alex can beat you a lot of different ways. He's a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. It's an exciting time with all the new people coming in. It was definitely a change of direction the organization felt we needed to go in."

Smith was the best veteran quarterback available, either via trade or in free agency, and the quarterback-needy Chiefs didn't wait for the official start of the new league year to make their move. In Smith, the Chiefs are getting a player who was once deemed a bust but rallied under Harbaugh to become one of the league's most efficient quarterbacks.

Smith was completing 70% of his passes in 2012 before his concussion, and he was intercepted only 10 times over the past two seasons.

"This team struggled in the area of turning the ball over, and with low points. Andy's got to fix all that," ESPN analyst Herm Edwards said. "Now he's got a QB now that won't get them beat."

Edwards, the Chiefs' coach from 2006 to 2008, said Smith should benefit in Kansas City from a quarterback-friendly coach in Reid and from the knowledge that the Chiefs made such an aggressive move to acquire him to be their starter.

"Here's a coach that understands quarterback play. That's what Harbaugh brought to San Francisco. He did a good job of letting (Smith) play to his skill set, and I think Andy will do the same," Edwards said. "I'm really happy for him, for the way he handled himself down the stretch. He's going to a place where they went to go get him. Kansas City needed a quarterback, with a new regime, and they went out to get him. That says a lot."

For Winston, news of the trade for Smith was somewhat bittersweet, since it signals the end of Cassel's tenure in Kansas City. Winston was the stand-up teammate who had Cassel's back and angrily ripped thousands of Chiefs fans for cheering when Cassel left an Oct. 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a concussion, saying it was sickening.

"I have a friendship with Matt Cassel. Obviously, you had the sense they were probably going to go in a different direction just because of the totality of all that's happened. But at the same time, you realize it's going to cost some of your friends their jobs," Winston said. "Obviously, the organization wanted to bring in new blood. You know that going in. You know everybody is up for review and that's just how it is. For me, it's personally bittersweet because I believe in Matt. I think Cassel can get it done. Maybe it will be a great change for him and he can go somewhere else where he can get a fresh start as well."

Cassel remains under contract with the Chiefs but is expected to be released soon. Quinn is set to become a free agent.

The early news of the trade could help the Chiefs become players in free agency, said Rich Gannon, the former Chiefs and Oakland Raiders quarterback. But Kansas City first has decisions to make on impending free-agent receiver Dwayne Bowe, who could receive the franchise tag, and left tackle Branden Albert.

"It's a starting point. Would have been a whole lot more difficult for them to head into free agency without a quarterback, and the draft. Now that you've got Alex, you can start adding the pieces around him," Gannon said. "You look at the situation he was in in San Francisco -- good running game, good tight end, good play-action team, great defense. I think they can have that same type of team around him in Kansas City."

Gannon, who played for four teams in his 17-year career, said Smith will find stability in Kansas City that he never had in eight years in San Francisco, in which he played for three head coaches as well as a different offensive coordinator in each of his first six seasons.

"This is really good for Alex, great place to play. It's a city that is craving for production and efficiency and production at that position," Gannon said. "He's going to find that stability with Andy. (They're) not going to be firing coordinators every year."